"Everyone started running out of the building," said Barhoumeh, a 21-year-old Dearborn Heights resident. "I just ran. I didn't know if I was going to be the next target."

Police responded shortly after noon on Friday to a report of shots fired. They entered a south hallway and heard one gunshot. Entering one of the classrooms they discovered both bodies. Ms. McGowen was alone at the time of the shooting.

Marjorie Swan, comptroller for the community college, thanked police and said: "Our hearts go out to the family and the friends of the young woman who lost her life today."

The school made good use of their email alert program. All students using the program were quickly alerted to the incident and what to do.

The college released an e-mail shortly after the shooting to warn the campus of a lockdown. "We received an e-mail telling us to lock down our offices and classrooms," said James Smith, a physics professor.

Interestingly a clue could be coming from Facebook about McCowan and Powell. Ms. McCowan had hundreds of friends on the social network site while Powell had two. He allegedly shot one of those two friends on Friday.